(Sports Network) - The San Antonio Spurs take aim at a season-high sixth
straight victory on Wednesday evening as they continue their four-game swing
with a stop in Utah to battle the Jazz.
The Spurs had a five-game winning streak snapped on Nov. 29 with a loss at
Miami, but have opened December with another five victories in a row. They
matched their season-high win streak on Monday with a 134-126 overtime win
against the Houston Rockets that featured the first triple-double of Tony
Parker's career.
Parker had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, while Gary Neal set career
highs with seven 3-pointers and 29 points. Manu Ginobili had 22 points and six
assists, while Tim Duncan added 10 points and 13 rebounds.
"Down the stretch we made some shots," noted Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
"Gary Neal got into it. Tony Parker all night long kept us in the game with
his floor play at both ends of the court. He was magnificent. But down the
stretch Neal made some shots for us so we were fortunate in that regard."
San Antonio is 11-2 on the road this season, having won the first two contests
of its road trip. The Spurs lead the NBA with 18 wins and a .818 winning
percentage, marking a big challenge for the Jazz.
"They understand how they play and how they want to play and they try to force
their will on you," said Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin of the veteran Spurs. "So
we've got to make sure we know who we are, how we want to play, the tempo we
want to play at and the sense of urgency to play it right from the beginning."
Corbin said his team will need to be aggressive to prevent the Spurs from
controlling the game. Utah has already lost to San Antonio once this season,
falling 110-100 on the road back on Nov. 3.
Parker had 24 points and 10 assists, while Duncan added 19 points and 11
rebounds as the Spurs beat the Jazz for the seventh time in the last eight
regular-season meetings.
San Antonio also swept eighth-seeded Utah in the opening round of last
season's playoffs.
Utah trailed November's meeting by 19 points at half, but outscored San
Antonio 35-17 to even the game heading into the fourth. However, the Spurs
were too much to handle in the fourth despite Utah's Mo Williams season-high
29 points, 15 in the third frame, and nine assists.
Williams notched 22 points in Sunday's 117-110 victory over the Los Angeles
Lakers, while Paul Millsap dropped a team-leading 24 points with nine
rebounds. That helped the Jazz notch their season high-tying third straight
win on the heels of a three-game slide.
Al Jefferson finished with 14 points and 11 boards, noting the team has to
play as a whole to be successful.
"We don't have a superstar, so we have to play together," Jefferson said. "We
have to get stops on the defensive end, and we did that tonight. This win was
big."
The Jazz could have young forward Derrick Favors available tonight. He has
missed the past five games with plantar fasciitis and is expected to be a
game-time decision after being able to practice on Tuesday. Favors nearly
returned on Sunday, but still had pain and decided not to give it a go.
"It's been hard. It's tough staying back there in the locker room watching the
team play, but it's just something I have to deal with and be responsible
with," said the third-year 21-year-old.
Favors is averaging 9.3 points and 7.5 assists in 17 games this season.
The Sports Network